why work with dems

Why I am voting Dem and working to build the Dem party

The work I do requires study of history, so I see things in current events that remind me of things that have happened before. I'm older than some people too, so I've seen things with my own eyes. I can see, for instance, the ways Obama seems something like Carter. It would be pleasant, from my point of view, to have a robust and articulate left constituency in this country but we don't. The left is factionalized almost down to isolated individuals here these days, arguing about how to move the masses for what purpose. What we have is a weak and inarticulate center and an insurgent right wing.

In my opinion the goal of the right wing everywhere is to allow people to take advantage of other people for economic gain without limit. It wants to create a society in which people can treat other people however they want if they can afford to, the done to have to put up with it, that is their right wing fate. The left wants everyone to be fair & wants to set up a system that forces people to be good to each other.   But there is no known method of getting people to be "good" that works all the time, is there?

Historically, almost of all of human history everywhere has been right wing, only very rarely did some kind of broad power sharing culture develop. In those erstwhile egalitarian cultures right wing tendencies, being in a sense "primitive" or "natural," emerged naturally as capital accumulated to certain people & not others & the holders of the capital tried to hold on to it for themselves, neighbors can fend for themselves. Rich don't want to take the poor into their families, certainly not all of them. They'd prefer to employ them for somewhat less than they're worth.

Here in USA we have Dems & Reps, the Libs & Greens just don't count. I look at the Reps & I see people who front for people who want to take things without limit. They call that privatization. Their goal is to allow people with money to do whatever they want. Their policies are designed to keep people who aren't them from getting in their way. The more poor people the better from their point of view, they'll work for less.

Me being egalitarian there is no way I could vote Rep now.

But the Dems are such undisciplined petty wooses what am I going to do?

I remember school getting to be 50 years ago. The jocks - bullies among them, using most of the yard, on the edge the nerds, geeks, misfits, geniuses among them, united by their non-jockness, can't we all be friends. Well, no, said some of the jocks, you're not good enough.

Faced with that kind of desire to exclude I eventually found myself compelled to do political work, which for me is about getting people to think about things & to decide that they will try to do something about what they care about, I eventually ended up with the Dems because realistically they are all that stands between me & my kind of people & right wingers who want to take my stuff away from me. If there was a lefter party that amounted to anything I would be there but there isn't. None of them have the organizing principles required. Get a good organization eventually an electable candidate will come along. Dem organization isn't really great by and large, though they sure did the job in 2008, but this is what there is to work with.

For me disappointment with the way things are going is irrelevant. I expect to fail, am happy when anything good happens. I want to keep trying for fairness. I know from experience that the people I want to win will probably disappoint me, but I know that the alternative is worse so I am involved and do things.

I have something in common with the right wingers: I think I know what's correct, I share with all activists a tendency to act.  It makes me feel good when I do something.  But I have moved beyond any consideration of success or failure of any goal I might have.  I do these things because I think they are good things to do.  It doesn't bother me that history is going wrong (=not the way I want it to go) but it always goes wrong.  I want to do the right thing so that's what I do.  What's the right thing?  What I think it is of course.

Politics is the alternative to rule of force.  It is a lot of boring meetings, bad compromises, disappointment, half-measures, cronyism, nepotism, good tasting bad food, mistakes, fixed deals, money money money.  If we don't participate in that stuff it happens without us & eventually the henhouse gets taken over by the foxes.  I hate meetings but I go to a few of them.  If we all went to a few of them things would be different.  Few people always run those meetings.  Why?  No one else wants to.  That is actual political power.

I plan and schedule my political work.  I don't take on more than I can do.  Political work like doing dishes - must be done.  Doing laundry.  An amount of volunteer work, a donation budget, a committment to send some emails to some elected officials.  Demos and parties & rallies are fun but the other things are what makes stuff happen.  I started small, kept doing it.  Doesn't matter if we win or lose cause I know what's the right thing to do and that's more important than who wins.  All candidates are defective, everything is.  But there is always the right thing to do.

Personal view of October 2011 election, Wake County, North Carolina, USA

This will be a set of reasons why its important to vote in this upcoming election and why it is important to vote Dem.  Of course this is my opinion.  You will do whatever you decide to do or not do.  I consider it highly unlikely that anyone reading this might be disinclined to vote, but perhaps there are undecideds or disenchanteds among the potential readership, or maybe I'll produce a useful turn of phrase that can be used by someone to try to convince someone else to vote who otherwise might go out for a burger with that time instead.

This is a local election for school board, mayor, city council.  The current school board majority got itself elected with a big push in a small election.  Total turnout for the county was about 11% that year, they didn't sweep to power, rather they got modest majorities, a bit over 5% of the registered voters.  No one knows what kind of turnout there will be this time, but I bet you it won't be any 70% like it was in 2008.  Perhaps the right wingers will turn out in droves and the Dems will be weak and they will stomp us good, or perhaps Dems will be riled up too and there'll be a 40% turnout, or maybe more likely it won't quite get to 20%.  If that is the case then truly every vote will count, the winners will win by a few thousand votes.

This is our regional school board candidate too.  It is personal therefore.  If you think what's been happening at the school board is worse than what went on before it is important to try to defeat their candidate. 

Unfortunately there are two non-Ripublican candidates, an instance of party lack of discipline.  The Rips do it too but it is deplorable.  The two Dems: one is a little firebrandish, the other one is nicer-ish, I would vote for either of them if they were the only one, but no, so I'm going to vote for the nice one because that one has more political oomph, much as i appreciate the positions of the other one.  For strategic reasons I will usually go with the moderate, they can more easily be elected.  Kushner.

From my point of view Rips at every level have created mischief everywhere that they have taken power.  There used to be good government Rips but now all they want to do is privatize.  We may not have much input at the national level, or maybe even the state, (though a Wake County win usually carries the state), but we always have a chance of winning in the county and the city and the school board.

Did I convince you to vote?

proposed voter info flyer

This is a first attempt at the letter to be sent to the precinct. Please comment on it for the next 48 hours, I'll reedit & post again for comment, then I'll print & mail it.

Chris Telesca, up the Dem line, told me 3 mailings are the minimum necessary to get a response, what does that have to do with us in the precinct? Where's the money? I figure the more or less end of voter registration by mail is Sep. 25 so let's just get it out there a week before that. Now to prepare the mailing list. That means finding the people living at the same address & creating a single label for them to save postage. Perhaps as many as 30% are couples, etc. Maybe 1-2h of work. Someone do it for me in next 48h? 72? By next Monday.

I am going to try to disclipine myself enough to post this on the precinct blog, at which comments on the flyer (and other subjects) can be easily made. http://pct0115jokes.blogspot.com/

Is it time to start exhorting? Do you need me to yell & scream about how serious this election is and how much is at stake? Let me know, I will.

++++++++++++++++

OCTOBER 11 VOTING INFORMATION FOR WAKE COUNTY - DEMOCRATIC VERSION

Hi. My name is Bob Reis. I am the precinct chair for the Democratic party in precinct 01-15. This letter has all of the basic voter information for the election this year.

Election day is October 11. We will be voting for school board member, mayor of Raleigh, City Council, two bond issues.

Voter registration instructions: ignore this if you are sure you are registered. If you are not sure you can check your registration online here: http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/VoterLookup.aspx?Feature=voterinfo or you can call me & I will do it for you: 782-1494.

If you are not registered there is a form that needs to be filled out and sent in. You can get the form here:http://www.wakegov.com/elections/registration/2voterregnew.htm
or you can call & ask me, I'll come over to your house & do the registration with you. 872-1494. This has to be done by Sep. 15.

candidates:

I will be voting for these candidates, seems they are the ones that have been endorsed by the Wake County Democratic party:

School Board - Caroline Kushner

Mayor of Raleigh - Nancy McFarlane

City Council at large (pick 2) - Mary Ann Baldwin & Russ Stephenson

City Council District A (that's us) - Randy Stagner

Early voting:

is downtown at the Board of Elections only this year. Address: 337 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27601

dates & times: Mon-Fri, Sep. 22, 23, 26-30, Oct. 3-7, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM (NOT 5:01!)

Sat, Oct. 8, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (only weekend time for early voting.

It may be possible to get you a ride there if you need one

absentee ballot:

Write a letter requesting absentee ballot. Letter must contain following:

name, address, date of birth, address where ballot should be MAILED (if different from the Wake County residence address), daytime phone, signature. Mail the letter to:

Wake County Board of Elections
Attn: Absentee
PO Box 695
Raleigh NC 27602

Request for absentee ballot should be mailed by about Sep. 25 at latest. You will receive a ballot packet in the mail, fill it out according to instructions, send back, probably will cost about $1.00 for postage.

Call me if you have questions. There is an email precinct newsletter put out by the Democratic Party organization here providing ongoing information on the details of upcoming elections, ways of being involved in political processes, how to get in touch with elected people, etc.. If you want to get it call me and give me your email address.

Bob Reis
01-15 Dem chair
782-1494
reisbiz@earthlink.net